diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index bd095598..0dfaa5cb 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,21 +1,20 @@
 # vim ft=yaml
 # travis-ci.org definition for Fail2Ban build
 # https://travis-ci.org/fail2ban/fail2ban/
+dist: xenial   # required for Python >= 3.7
 language: python
 python:
-  - 2.6
+  #- 2.6
   - 2.7
   - pypy
-  # disabled until coverage module fixes up compatibility issue
   # - 3.2
-  - 3.3
+  # - 3.3
   - 3.4
   - 3.5
   - 3.6
-  - 3.7-dev
-  # disabled since setuptools dropped support for Python 3.0 - 3.2
-  # - pypy3
-  - pypy3.3-5.5-alpha
+  - 3.7
+  - 3.8-dev
+  - pypy3.5
 before_install:
   - echo "running under $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION"
   - if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2* || $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == pypy* && $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION != pypy3* ]]; then export F2B_PY=2; fi
@@ -35,17 +34,22 @@ install:
   #   codecov:
   - travis_retry pip install codecov
   #   dnspython or dnspython3
-  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 2 ]]; then travis_retry pip install dnspython; fi
-  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 3 ]]; then travis_retry pip install dnspython3; fi
+  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 2 ]]; then travis_retry pip install dnspython || echo 'not installed'; fi
+  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 3 ]]; then travis_retry pip install dnspython3 || echo 'not installed'; fi
+  #   python systemd bindings:
+  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 2 ]]; then travis_retry sudo apt-get python-systemd || echo 'not installed'; fi
+  - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 3 ]]; then travis_retry sudo apt-get python3-systemd || echo 'not installed'; fi
   #   gamin - install manually (not in PyPI) - travis-ci system Python is 2.7
-  - if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7 ]]; then travis_retry sudo apt-get install -qq python-gamin && cp /usr/share/pyshared/gamin.py /usr/lib/pyshared/python2.7/_gamin.so $VIRTUAL_ENV/lib/python2.7/site-packages/; fi
+  - if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7 ]]; then (travis_retry sudo apt-get install -qq python-gamin && cp /usr/share/pyshared/gamin.py /usr/lib/pyshared/python2.7/_gamin.so $VIRTUAL_ENV/lib/python2.7/site-packages/) || echo 'not installed'; fi
   #   pyinotify
-  - travis_retry pip install pyinotify
+  - travis_retry pip install pyinotify || echo 'not installed'
   # Install helper tools
   - sudo apt-get install shellcheck
 before_script:
   # Manually execute 2to3 for now
   - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 3 ]]; then ./fail2ban-2to3; fi
+  # (debug) output current preferred encoding:
+  - python -c 'import locale, sys; from fail2ban.helpers import PREFER_ENC; print(PREFER_ENC, locale.getpreferredencoding(), (sys.stdout and sys.stdout.encoding))'
 script:
   # Keep the legacy setup.py test approach of checking coverage for python2
   - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 2 ]]; then coverage run setup.py test; fi
@@ -53,8 +57,8 @@ script:
   - if [[ "$F2B_PY" = 3 ]]; then coverage run bin/fail2ban-testcases --verbosity=2; fi
   # Use $VENV_BIN (not python) or else sudo will always run the system's python (2.7)
   - sudo $VENV_BIN/pip install .
-  # Doc files should get installed on Travis under Linux
-  - test -e /usr/share/doc/fail2ban/FILTERS
+  # Doc files should get installed on Travis under Linux (python >= 3.8 seem to use another path segment)
+  - if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION < 3.8 ]]; then test -e /usr/share/doc/fail2ban/FILTERS; fi
   # Test initd script
   - shellcheck -s bash -e SC1090,SC1091 files/debian-initd
 after_success: